ne of the council’s lead officers for
its energy programme has been
named the South West’s
Sustainable Energy Champion of the Year
at a recent award ceremony.
Mareike Schmidt, Bristol City Council’s
Service Manager for Energy, was
recognised at Regen SW Green Energy
Awards on Tuesday (29 November) for her
strong leadership in turning the city into a
hub for sustainable energy.
Mareike has been the driving force
behind the council’s investment in
renewable energy technology over the
past three years.
In that time she has been key in the
development of a multi-million pound solar
investment programme, creating a
match-making service to make sustainable
energy more accessible to local
communities, championed energy efficiency
and helped to launch the UK’s first
municipal energy company for social
good, Bristol Energy.
Mareike said: “I am delighted to receive
this award. These past years have not been
without their challenges but I am

very proud of the work we’ve achieved so
far. I’d like to thank my team and everyone
who has supported us and hope that we
will continue to break new ground for
Bristol working towards a more
sustainable future.”
Cllr Helen Holland, Bristol City Council’s
Cabinet Member for Place, said: “We are all
very proud to have Mareike as part of the
team at the council. Her work has been a
key part of developing Bristol as the green
city we all want it to be, and has helped to
put us on the map as somewhere with
environmental concerns right at our core.
“Through her strong leadership, she has
helped transform our city’s attitude towards
sustainable energy. On behalf of the city
council, and the city, I’d like to take this
opportunity to thank Mareike for her
dedication and the ground-breaking work
she does to make Bristol a greener and
more sustainable place to live.
“Congratulations on this award Marieke
and thank you for all that you do. We all
wish you luck as you continue to work to
help us meet the environmental
challenges ahead.”

Regen SW Green Energy Awards is an
annual ceremony that aims to honour the
innovation, dedication and creative
ingenuity that has helped to put the
South West at the forefront of green
energy innovation in the UK.
This year the awards were held at the
Bath Assembly Rooms.
The judging panel consisted of
representatives from a range of public,
private and charity organisations including
the National Trust, WWF, the Institution
of Civil Engineers and the Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
www.bristol.gov.uk/energyservice

Inspiring, informing and connecting
the entire built environment with
solutions to build better communities

E

cobuild is the UK’s largest and
number one event for specifiers
across the built environment. No
other UK event attracts 33,319 high calibre,
senior level decision makers and
influencers from architects and developers
to local government and major
infrastructure clients.
In 2017, the event will return on 07-09
March, with a renewed focus on enabling
sustainable construction for 2017 and
beyond. With Lead Partner the UK-GBC,
Ecobuild 2017 will explore sustainability as
a driver to innovation and growth, a catalyst
for regeneration and as a way for
organisations to do better business.
This year the event theme is
Regeneration. Ecobuild 2017 will be
regenerated into an immersive city complete with main street, distinct
destinations and special feature attractions.
Central to the experience will be
Regeneration Drive, a boulevard
running through the middle of

Ecobuild, linking different aspects of the
exhibition and enabling you to experience
the very best examples of innovation and
creativity from across the built
environment.
In the lead up to the event, Ecobuild
will be driving industry-wide conversation
around the ongoing evolution of
sustainability. Industry professionals can
get involved in the conversation on social
media using #SustainabilityIs

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

Get involved...
If you’re interested in exhibiting alongside
the world leading brands in construction,
get in touch with a member of the team
today - www.ecobuild.co.uk/exhibit/
book-your-stand
Or interested in joining over 33,000
industry professionals? Ecobuild 2017 is
free to attend! Get your free ticket here
https://registration.n200.com/survey/
0dcugi1l7eh4g

News

NEXT FOUR YEARS CRITICAL TO
MEETING PARIS AGREEMENT TARGETS

C

40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
(C40) and consultants Arup have
outlined the first emission reduction
plan in order to meet the most
ambitious Paris Agreement targets to keep
global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
According to Deadline2020: How Cities
Will Get the Job Done, the world’s
megacities must act to peak emissions by
2020 and pursue bold emissions cuts with
the goal of reaching carbon neutrality in
2050.
If all cities of 100,000 people or more
follow on the recommendations in the
report, the world will achieve 40% of the
reductions necessary to avoid catastrophic
climate change.
Cities are already leading the way on
climate action by benchmarking and
reducing emissions across the board. But
according to Deadline2020, the world
must halt the growth of emissions in the
next four years, with the ultimate goal of
decreasing emissions globally by 2030. For
C40 cities, this means nearly halving carbon
emissions for every citizen, from an
average of 5 tonnes CO2e per capita today
to 3 tonnes CO2e per capita by 2030.
According to the report, achieving this
goal will require approximately $375 billion
in investment by national governments
and the private sector over the next four
years – investments that will transform and
improve entire economies by creating jobs,
bolstering infrastructure, improving public
health and making cities more liveable.
Deadline2020 provides concrete steps
for cities to meet their part of this
obligation, offering a roadmap of thousands

New report provides concrete
recommendations for cities to meet
aggressive goals and halt climate change
of actions. A full link to the report can be
found on www.arup.com/deadline,
however, key recommendations include:
•
Ramping up action: 11,000 actions
are already underway in C40 cities.
Within four years, 14,000 additional
Actions will have to be in the pipeline
across C40’s membership, moving
from planning and pilot stages to full
transformative, city-wide initiatives.
•
Focus on buildings and transit
sectors: Taking these Actions and
ensuring 54% are at a transformative,
city-wide scale by 2020 is fundamental
to reaching zero emissions by 2050.
•
Smart urban planning can make all
the difference: the development of
compact, connected, and
coordinated cities enable significant
indirect emissions savings and
compound the effects of savings
achieved in the main emissions
sectors.
Partnerships and collaboration within
cities will be fundamental to delivering
the Deadline2020 Action pathway, but are
not sufficient. Cities must work beyond
administrative boundaries, collaborating
with regional and national-level actors and
more to ensure the national and
international infrastructure that supplies
them is also transformed to meet future
targets.

“Cities are rising to the climate
challenge. They are engaging with each
other, working together, weaving a web
above and beyond national and cultural
differences.” Said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo,
C40 chair-elect. “We need to bring in
citizens and the private sector. We must
reach the leaders of global finance, to join
us in bringing about the energetic and
ecological shift towards a climate safe
world. ”
Paula Kirk, Cities and Climate Change
Leader at Arup, said: “For the first time
our cities have a plan to follow to reduce
their emissions. Arup is working with cities
around the world to help them understand
what they can do in practical terms; making
sure infrastructure is designed and
engineered in a way that put cities on the
right trajectory. Our ambition is for this plan
to reach beyond the C40 cities to show
other cities around the world that action
is possible and achievable – the world can
deliver on the Paris Agreement.”
C40 is a network of 90 world cities
committed to tackling climate change,
which represents 650 million people and
25 per cent of the world’s GDP. C40 worked
with global engineering and consulting firm,
Arup, to develop research and the evidence
based model which underpins the Deadline
2020 report.

ew applications and Internet of
Things adoption enable growth of
innovative new business models,
finds Frost & Sullivan’s Energy &
Environment Team
The transformation of the lighting
industry to light-emitting diode (LED)
solutions is the biggest disruption the
lighting industry has ever witnessed.
Advanced lighting control and light
management solutions have a significant
opportunity to bring to life the benefits of
LED lighting in terms of energy efficiency,
advanced functionality and exploitation of
growth in new applications beyond

illumination. Cloud-based light
management systems (LMS) solutions will
be a key enabler for new business models
for lighting, such as remote management
and control and light-as-a-service (LaaS),
while LED and Internet of Things adoption
will drive growth in this sector.
According to European Market for
Lighting Controls and Light Management
Systems, new analysis from Frost &
Sullivan’s Homes & Buildings Growth
Partnership Service programme, the market
is hindered by:
•
Affordability and return on investment
for end users restricting the pace of

LC-LMS adoption; and
The lack of certified technical training
to build awareness across
stakeholders and channel partners
in relation to the latest developments
in LC-LMC product variety and
options for IoT.
Innovative, market-leading companies
such as Philips Lighting, Schneider Electric,
ABB and Zumtobel Group are bringing
lighting to the centre of an integrated
connected home solution rather than
focusing solely on lighting as a functional
application.
•

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

News

RINNAI VERSATILITY COVERS ALL NEEDS, all SITES

R

innai’s range of gas fired continuous
flow hot water units are versatile and
flexible in any application, on any
site, delivering almost limitless hot water
on demand.
The company’s Infinity units offer a
viable solution for showering, bathing and
washing in all types of domestic dwelling
and also satisfy hot water demand in
office buildings, large and small
commercial premises, hotels, hospitals
and care homes, leisure centres, caravan
sites – and even horsewashing! Even when
used as a booster to renewables such as
air source heat pumps or solar thermal
these technically advanced units will be
cost efficient, environmentally friendly
and fuel efficient.
For example, Rinnai units are favoured by
the 20-bed Brig of Orchy Hotel, which sits
in a prominent roadside location close to
the West Highland Way. Near Glencoe, the
area is a walkers’ paradise and has the best
climbing, walking and skiing in Scotland, so
the hotel has high occupancy rates all year
around. Two Rinnai HDC 1200i units meet
and exceed the huge demand for hot water
at peak times.
De Vere has also installed Rinnai
technology at the prestigious de Vere
Village Hotel in Warrington. Six Infinity
HD50i units are capable of producing hot
water at 780 litres per hour at a 50°C rise.
The HD50i is a fully modulating 54kW unit
that can also be installed in a manifold
arrangement ensuring the system will meet
any hot water demand even at peak times.
At Sunbourne Glan y Mor Leisure Park in
West Wales, owner Will Jones says: “During
the peak season our shower block can be
providing 80 showers a day falling to as
little as 10 off season. The great thing about

the Rinnai system is that it doesn’t use
fuel until the outlet is turned on for each
individual shower – it only heats the water
that is being used at the time. Before we
rebuilt, we had an old system tank which
went cold when demand was high. Now
we have the two HDC 1500i Rinnai boilers
manifolded together so there is no problem
of hot water running out at peak times and
importantly no more complaints. And we
don’t have to heat up a tank of water.”
Rinnai HDC1500i turns in 104.5% net
efficiency* and when used in a solar thermal
set up guarantees considerable ongoing
energy savings when compared with
traditional storage systems.
Rinnai is also proving to be a
thoroughbred in equine care in the form
of the newly developed Ascot Hydra Horse
Washer. A ‘light bulb moment’ struck Colin
Davies, managing director of Ascot Hygiene,
when he looked at a small electric dog wash
unit he had designed for sprucing up man’s
best friend (and the walker’s wellies) after a
muddy run. “Why not make a bigger one for
horses?” he mused. It didn’t take him long
to identify the Rinnai Infinity 17e LPG unit
as the central component of what was to
become his innovative Ascot Hydra Horse
Washer solution.
With a Rinnai Infinity heater here are
no sudden changes in water temperature
thanks to the digital temperature controller
so, if somebody is showering at 42°C and
a tap is turned on elsewhere, the
temperature will not vary. As a failsafe,
the unit will automatically cut the heater
should the temperature rise by 3°C above
the chosen set point. In effect, Rinnai can
guarantee a never-ending stream of safe
temperature controlled hot water any time
of the day or night.

The appliances are also suited to LPG
with the energy savings and high
performance still guaranteed.
Controls are also a major step forward
in achieving best efficiencies whether local
or integrated into a building maintenance
system. Rinnai has developed its own BMS
Gateway interface for its award winning
Infinity condensing range offering the
prospect of higher energy efficiencies for
commercial buildings offering ultimate
control in large buildings, including
multi-tenanted sites.
Not only will building owners be able to
slash both running costs and reduce
embedded carbon, they will easily meet
– and surpass – the demands of CSR
requirements and current and future
legislation.
All water-heating products sold in the
UK need to meet minimum energy
performance criteria in order to be legally
placed on the market, and require an
energy label.
* In accordance with BS EN 677

For more information on the RINNAI
product range visit www.rinnaiuk.com

Firms warned of ‘energy black hole’

C

ompanies risk “sleepwalking into
an energy black hole” as a result of
rising oil prices, increasing
non-energy costs, the low pound and the
onset of winter.
That’s the dire warning of leading
energy procurement specialist
Businesswise Solutions, who says that
increase in business energy bills in 2017/18
is inevitable.
Frazer Durris is the managing director of
Businesswise Solutions, which has offices in
Lancashire and Manchester and says most
companies don’t realise they will be facing
increases up to 30 per cent, per year in
energy costs from next year.
He said: “We hear a lot about the pension
black hole but I’m concerned about the
energy black hole. The combination of the

low pound; uncertainty over Brexit; rising
wholesale energy costs, some fundamental
changes in non-energy costs and the onset
of winter, have created the perfect storm
and the potential for an energy black hole
to appear on company balance sheets.
“We buy and manage energy for
companies that typically spend between
£100,000 up to £20m per annum. If the
customer is spending £5m on energy it
wouldn’t be uncommon to see an increase
to £6.5m a year from 2017.
“It puts pressure on the bottom line for
both large corporations and smaller
owner-managed organisations and it is
vital, now more than ever, that future
energy strategies for these operations are
discussed at board level.
“The wholesale energy cost has gone up

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

significantly in the last month. In the past
fortnight the oil price has increased by 15
per cent alone and it’s forecast that cost
could rise to up to $60 a barrel.”
Durris said the onset of winter always
sees a spike in energy consumption, which
is why the National Grid recently put two
UK coal power plants on standby this
winter at a cost of £77m to reduce the risk
of electricity blackouts.
The energy specialist advised companies
to act now to mitigate the risk of rising
costs. “They need to look at how they buy
their energy and ensure they have a robust
management strategy to offset the impact,”
he said.
“Basically they need to reduce the
premiums they’re paying to suppliers, look
at how they manage it and make a
concerted effort to reduce consumption.”

135 years
of world-beating
energy solutions

Cochran are the internationally
acknowledged experts in the
provision of packaged steam,
hot water generation and heat
transfer systems, combustion and
ancillary technology. Every product
is constructed to meet stringent UK,
European and international standards.

Over a century leading the field
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Total turnkey energy solutions
Steam and hot water boilers
Combustion and control systems
Bespoke heat recovery boilers
Short and long-term boiler hire
Servicing and emergency repair
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In-house/on-site client training
Spares - all makes, models, ages

atest figures from the Anaerobic
Digestion and Bioresources
Association (ADBA) reveal that the
UK’s 540 anaerobic digestion plants now
generate more energy than the landfill gas
sector, and represent two per cent of UK
gas production. The AD industry’s success
in the past 12 months – during which time
over 100 new plants have come on stream
– can be largely attributed to the growth of
the biomethane sector. With a total of 86
biomethane plants having applied for
support under the RHI, the biomethane
sector currently generates 2.6 TWh of
energy, enough to heat 167,000 homes or
the whole of Cardiff.

Putting green gas at the
heart of UK energy policy
However, ADBA believes that with the
right support, biomethane, or ‘green gas’,
can deliver as much as 80 TWh – 30 per
cent of household gas demand or sufficient
fuel to power 80 per cent of lorries by 2030.
Following the KPMG report on 2050 UK
energy scenarios, and the integration
of energy and industrial strategy into one
government department, moving green
gas up the political agenda to ensure this
potential becomes reality will be high on
the agenda at the ADBA National
Conference 2016. Now in its eighth year,
and taking place at One Great George

Street, Westminster on 8 December, the
conference will bring together industry,
academia and policy makers to assess how
the UK’s changing relationship with the
world and the priorities of a new
government can create future
opportunities. Key speakers include
Matthew Bell (Committee on Climate
Change), Rt Hon Caroline Flint MP, Richard
Court (National Grid), Chris Huhne (Former
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate),
Dr Richard Swannell (WRAP) and Iain
Gulland (Zero Waste Scotland).
“AD-derived green gas is an important
part of the UK’s energy mix as it performs
two roles – it makes use of waste and is
an environmentally sustainable fuel,” says
Reed Landberg, Global Renewable Energy
& Environment Team Leader for Bloomberg
News, who will chair a panel debate on this
subject. “The fact that AD is also a source of
heat makes it more important still, as heat
is currently centre stage in terms of UK
energy policy.”

Deregulation of
water sector creates
opportunities
The future of the water sector will also be
a key topic for debate. Ofwat’s Water 2020
offers a vision for greater deregulation,
including around the treatment of sewage
sludge, and although some experts believe

that the water sector is already sufficiently
developed, others feel this presents a real
opportunity for the wider organic waste
sector. “Today, more than 15 per cent
of the total sewage sludge produced in
England and Wales is not being treated by
anaerobic digestion,” says Alison Fergusson,
Principal Engineer, Water 2020 programme,
Ofwat. “And this sludge is produced day in
day out. Ofwat’s Water 2020 programme
will make it easier for those interested in
making the most of this bioresource to
identify commercial opportunities and get
into the business of treating sewage sludge
and generating renewable energy from
it.” Alison is part of an expert panel who
will debate this topic in detail at the ADBA
National Conference.
Alongside these industry hot topics,
the event will also consider whether food
retailers could be the saviour of small scale
AD; what industry can learn from nature;
why England is still lagging behind
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
in regard to separate food waste
collections; and how the biomethane
sector will develop between 2017-2021.
For the full programme and to book your
place, go to adbioresources.org

News

Climate actions of leading states and
regions across the world are putting a 2˚C
world within reach, shows new report

T

he Compact of States and Regions
reveals, in its annual report, that the
vision set out in the Paris Agreement
is within reach. Delivering on all disclosed
2020 targets in time would result in savings
that put these governments on track to stay
below the critical warming threshold of 2˚C
above pre-industrial levels. The report
provides valuable insights to support
national governments heading into the
‘2018 facilitative dialogue’, aimed at raising
ambition in the next round of Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs) and
shows how many disclosing states and
regions are ahead of schedule.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary
of UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change said in the report’s foreword: “The
report is powerful evidence how these
governments continue to go the extra mile
in bold climate policies and action. It is
particularly heartening to see that some
states and regions are already targeting net
zero emissions. The [Paris] Agreement’s
strength rests not just on central
government action but the unprecedented
support and growing enthusiasm of
business, investors, citizens, cities, states,
provinces and regions.”
The Compact of State and Regions urges
governments to step up their long-term
ambition to match the required rate of
decarbonization and complement their
goals with deep de-carbonization pathways.
At the same time, the report also highlights
that governments of six major states and
regions have already met or exceeded their
2020 targets, four years ahead of schedule,
including: Scotland, Catalonia, Lombardy,
Carinthia, Connecticut, and
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Many others
are on the verge of doing so. 65% of
governments disclosing a base year
emissions reduction goal are currently
below their base year emissions.
Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Secretary
for Environment, Climate and Land Reform
for the Scottish Government said: “I am
pleased to say that Scotland has achieved
it emissions reduction target of 42% by
2020 six years early with emissions down
by 45.8% between 1990 and 2014. We are
proud of the progress we have made but
we know we can go further. In 2017, the
Scottish Government will bring forward a
package of measures to ensure that
Scotland continues to cut emissions.”
The Compact, which is a collaborative
initiative between The Climate Group and

CDP, has grown significantly since it was
launched in 2014. The number of
governments taking part has increased
by 41% this year, reaching a total of 62
states, provinces and regions by the time of
COP22 in Marrakech. These governments
are responsible for a collective total of over
3 GtCO2e, more than the total combined
emissions of India and Canada, and $12.9
trillion in GDP – or 17% of the global GDP.
New members have joined from around
the globe, including Gujarat, Cross River
State, Minnesota, Hidalgo and Veneto.
Dr Alice Ekwu, Commissioner for Climate
Change and Forestry, Cross River State,
Nigeria said: “The Compact of States and
Regions provides the much needed
platform for state and regional
governments to share their success and
challenges in one common pursuit to
commit to GHG emission reductions and
make the world a better and more
prosperous place.”.
The report shows that states and regions
across the world are currently on the right
trajectory to mitigate the impacts of climate
change in the immediate future. The size
and scale of the governments involved in
the Compact shows that whatever happens
at the national level, these governments
will continue to play a key role in hitting the
targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
Damian Ryan, the acting CEO of The

Climate Group said: “The high level of action
that we have seen from state, provincial
and regional governments over the past
two years has taken place against the
remarkable backdrop of the signing and
ratification of the landmark Paris
Agreement. The work by these states and
regions show that as the world becomes
more uncertain at national level,
governments of states and regions are
in the vanguard for driving climate
action forward.”
The report also highlights that states
and regions are backing up their climate
goals with a variety of specific climate
actions. This year alone, 1,299 individual
climate actions were disclosed across ten
economic sectors. Many governments,
including California, Jalisco, New York State,
Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest
Territories, Sardinia and Oppland indicated
that tackling short-lived climate pollutants
(i.e. methane, black carbon O3, HFCs) is one
of their key priorities in the next two years.
Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP said: “We have
seen Compact governments double down
on cutting their region-wide GHG emissions
and setting more reduction targets. We
call on more governments to join the
Compact, reduce their emissions and
commit to transparent annual disclosure.
Our journey has only just begun.”

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

News

In the dark: E.ON poll finds half of
senior managers don’t know how
much their company spends on energy

D

espite a fifth (18%) of UK firms
spending a quarter of a million
pounds (£250,000) each year on
energy, a new report from E.ON has found
that almost half (46%) of senior business
managers admit to having “no idea at all” of
what their company spends on energy.
The poll of 760 senior UK managers
and directors across medium and large
businesses was conducted by E.ON and
Telegraph Media Group. It found that two
thirds (67%) of senior managers say they
have no understanding of how their
business buys its energy, or even who buys
it (54%). Nearly half (46%) confess to having
‘limited understanding’ of costs.
This lack of understanding means
businesses may be missing opportunities
to save money, improve sustainability and
potentially generate income from
participating themselves in energy markets.

Why aren’t business leaders
plugged into the system?
No matter how strong the financial or
social case put forward, over half of people
(53%) report that their management board
has a ‘negative’ or ‘neutral’ response to the
importance of an energy strategy. Fewer
than half of respondents thought there was
a need for companies to have a short-term
energy policy (48%).
When trying to understand this lack of
interest in energy strategy from board
members not involved in energy decision
making, the key issues cited were lack of
time (43%), lack of resources (39%), funds
(37%) or knowledge (36%) respectively.

Empowering strategy
change
Despite the lack of understanding from
the senior leadership in businesses, the
majority of large businesses (68%) in the
poll and almost half of smaller businesses
(42%) do have someone responsible for
looking at energy strategy. Of those energy
decision-makers (EDM), three-quarters
(76%) have a reduction strategy planned,
plus 68% also have a thought-out
compliance and legislation process. 40%
even have plans in place to create revenue
generation from surplus production.
However, energy decision-makers need
widespread buy-in for these plans to
become fully effective. The plans also need

10

to be championed by a board-level director,
and unfortunately, a third of EDMs (36%)
currently do not believe their board places
enough importance on energy as part of an
overall business strategy.
Phil Gilbert, Director of Customer
Solutions at E.ON for Business, said:
“Energy is changing, with new solutions that
give businesses of all sizes the power to
control their energy use, improve
competitiveness and also put money on
the bottom line. To make the most of this
opportunity energy needs to be thought
about in the right way and at the right level
– this is a strategic decision that rightly sits
in boardroom discussions.
“For all businesses, there are
opportunities to both implement more
sustainable energy programmes and
reduce internal costs. The energy buying
process however just needs to be
identified, understood, and then explored
in the right way by the business. We’ve seen
dramatic change in many customers’ overall
energy strategy that has both improved
sustainable practice and also saved money
in short and long-term.
“Our ambition is to partner with business
to provide opportunities to help them
understand, control and manage the cost
of energy use over the long term. The focus
needs to be on managing overall costs
rather than the simpler pence-per-unit of
energy supply.”
E.ON’s advice to senior leaders looking to
improve their energy strategy:
•
Making energy part of a boardroom
discussion can create opportunities to
make businesses more competitive.
It can start with simple compliance
against Government legislation and
putting in the monitoring systems to
give you back control of your energy
use. From there it can expand to much
more active control, and even create
new revenue streams.
•
It’s important not to think of energy
as a fixed cost. Small changes, such as
encouraging staff to turn-off lights in
empty rooms or powering down PCs
when not in use, can have a dramatic
effect on costs. Swapping fluorescent
tubes for LEDs, for instance, can slash
lighting costs by as much as 50%.
•
Businesses may benefit from keeping
a closer eye on the ‘where and when’
of energy costs – either through smart
meters or consumption data toolkits,

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

•

•

•

•

•

businesses can have more control
over their energy consumption and
production and use both to their
advantage.
Employees are at the heart of an
energy strategy. After all, the amount
of energy consumed by the individuals
within a company directly correlates
to the overall cost of consumption.
It is important to appreciate that any
behaviour change work may take time
to become intertwined into the overall
company culture.
Generating your own power can put
control firmly into your hands. For
instance, by investing in new energy
solutions, such as solar panels or CHP,
as well as the financial savings, you
may also unlock new growth, improve
productivity and overall
competitiveness within your industry.
Similarly, many businesses, particularly
those that function with an on-site
production line or product
manufacturing process may take
advantage of CHP technology. CHP is
on-site electricity generation that
captures the heat that would
otherwise be wasted to provide useful
thermal energy, such as steam or hot
water. This can then be used for space
heating, cooling, domestic hot water
and other industrial processes, which
can overall slice costs in the long run.
The next step may be to participate
in Demand Side Response schemes
where businesses can be paid for
helping to balance the energy system.
In simple terms that means
businesses get paid for managing
how and when they use electricity
– reducing demand or using their own
generation at peak periods for
example – as well as avoiding costly
capacity and transmission fees by
using less power at peak periods.
On-site generation also allows you
to where businesses can be paid for
helping to balance keep the energy
system. In simple terms that means
businesses get paid for managing how
and when they use electricity as well
as avoiding costly capacity fees by
using less power at peak periods.

andrew.barrow@eon-uk.com

Opinion

Not working 9 to 5

D

olly Parton (and Sheena
Easton) had hit records with
the song “9 to 5”
bemoaning the lot of office
workers required to be at
their desks for those prescribed hours.
Well that used to be the standard office
hours throughout the West for many
years but thing have changed and the
concept of “flexible hours” has become
close to universal. This is generally seen
as beneficial as it give greater freedom to
the workers, more availability to
customers and added benefits like
reduced travel congestion, increased
utilisation of assets and apparent
increase in resource. Additionally
companies operating internationally gain
more overlap between time zones
enabling better communication and
cooperation. (I well remember working
late in a Glasgow office and answering
a phone call from the American Head
Office at 8pm local time and them being
surprised that the person they wanted
had left - and Americans have time zones
within their own country!).

Increasingly businesses are operating
longer and longer hours - and the recent
disputes on the London Underground as it
prepares for overnight operation show this
trend is likely to continue.
But have you considered the effect
this has on energy consumption? When
buildings were only occupied from 9 to
5 the heating and air-conditioning could
(usually) come on around 8am and go off
at 5pm (at the latest). Now with occupation
from 7:30 am to possibly 10pm the system
will need to be energised from 6:30 am to
10pm or so. That means 9 hours becomes
15½ hours -over a 70% increase! and that
doesn’t take into account the tendency to
work at weekends.
Now the technical amongst you will
realise that 70% increase in hours doesn’t
mean a 70% increase in energy
consumption due to the high proportion
required to initially bring the building into a
condition for occupation from its rest state
and obviously good control strategy like
optimum start and finish will have an effect.
But because the extended hours will
generally have colder exterior

temperatures (and hence higher heat loss)
the extra usage will be more than you might
expect. To add to that because there will be
more hours of darkness the lighting load
on a well controlled building will be MUCH
greater. To add to that lower occupancy
may mean less internal heat gains, meaning
people feel colder and the heating has to
work harder to maintain conditions.
Now because the extension of operating
hours is a commercial decision involving a
lot of factors most energy and sustainability
managers will have little influence but they
should at least try to have their voice heard
and the energy and carbon implications
included in the calculation.
Perhaps when HMG are considering
increasing Sunday trading hours they
should consider the effect on their Climate
Change Policy?
Andy Clarke CEng MIGEM MEI FEMA
Chartered Energy Engineer 2nd Row Camp
Hill RFC ret’d

Environment Secretary sets
out ambitions for Wales to
become nation renowned
for clean energy

T

he Cabinet Secretary for
Environment and Rural Affairs,
Lesley Griffiths, has set out the
steps the Welsh Government
will take to reduce the amount
of energy used in Wales and move from
its traditional association with fossil fuels
to a nation renowned for its clean energy.
The Cabinet Secretary updated the
Assembly on how the Welsh Government
will use its devolved powers to take
advantage of the many opportunities Wales
has to deliver secure and affordable low
carbon energy.
This includes:
•
Wales leading the way in the UK by
reviewing how we can use building
regulations to build new homes in
Wales which are more energy efficient
and cheaper to run;
•
Supporting energy intensive industries
to become more efficient;
•
Ensuring Wales secures
transformational benefits from major

energy projects such as Wylfa Newydd
and Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon;
•
Investing in energy efficiency projects,
such as Welsh Government Warm
Homes Nest, which is reducing
emissions associated with heating
while also reducing energy bills for
consumers and helping people to stay
warm and healthy;
•
Support phasing out of unabated coal
fired power, the most polluting form
of energy generation in Wales, by
2025, and use planning powers to
limit the opportunities for new coal
development;
•
Set ambitious and realistic targets
for renewables, including community
energy.
The Welsh Government is already
supporting the development of low carbon
energy projects in Wales, for example
providing vital funding to support local
renewable energy projects such as the Awel
Aman Tawe Community Energy scheme in

Swansea, but would like to do even more.
The Cabinet Secretary used today’s
statement to set out her frustrations on
restrictions caused by the UK Government’s
energy policies.
Lesley Griffiths said: “Wales has huge
potential to host projects which generate
energy on a large scale for the UK and can
bring significant benefits to Wales.
“If we are to deliver secure and
affordable low carbon energy, we need
an energy mix of different technologies
and scales, from community level to major
projects. I am keen to move this agenda
forward so Wales benefits from this change
rather than being left behind.
“However, it is frustrating that the UK
Government continues to create
uncertainty in energy policy, with decisions
driving the market away from the lowest
cost renewable sources and undermining
investor confidence in renewable energy
here in Wales. This must change.”

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

11

Data Collection

It’s all about ERIC!

T

he Estates Return Information
Collection (ERIC) is the main
central data collection for
hospital estates and facilities
services from the NHS. It’s a
resource of valuable data that enables the
analysis of Estates & Facilities information
from NHS Trusts and PCTs in England.
And the latest annual report, published
in October, reports:
•
Total costs covering the running of the
NHS Estate was £8.3 billion in 2015/16,
a small rise of 0.2% from 2014/15
•
Total Energy usage from all
energy sources across the NHS Estate
amounted to 11.9 billion kWh, an
increase of 3.5% from 2014/15
•
Total capital investment in existing
building and equipment has fallen
12.5% from 2014/15
If you haven’t studied the whole report,
the numbers above tell much of the story
– cutting capital investment across the
board due to squeezed budgets and little
progress made in cutting energy use, water
and waste costs. This shows that Trusts are
finding it increasingly hard to make
meaningful cost savings without further
cutting capital and maintenance budgets.
However, this ‘amalgamated view’
ignores many pockets of success and case
studies by some Trusts. So let’s take a look
at some of the inspirational work being
done by one NHS Trust to reduce their
energy use and spend…
At Croydon Health Services NHS Trust,
a need for cost reduction and a more
energy efficient approach to meeting the
Trust’s demands triggered a major review
of the Trust’s activities.
Managers were aware that conventional
energy generation has a total fuel efficiency
of between 50 and 55%, while the total fuel
efficiency of CHP is closer to 80% so this
made it an attractive option to implement
2 x760 kWe CHP engines in 2014. This
reduced their energy cost but they then
needed to know that they were maximizing
the potential of the CHP engines to make
further cost and energy savings.
Additionally the controls for the hospital
heating and cooling systems were sub
optimal and many areas had poor
temperature control leading to over or
under heating.
The Trust did not have an energy
manager in place, and realised that plans
for establishing a strategy for reducing
energy had to be approached in an
inclusive and professionally structured
manner that took advantage of sector
benchmarking and up-to-the-minute

methodologies. So the Trust decided to
investigate and interview specialist
consultants in order to appoint a team to
join and assign them to act as its energy
manager on a contract basis.
The Trust appointed Carbon
Architecture due to their experience with
advising high-energy users, and with NHS
Trusts particularly. “Our consultants’
experience of managing and minimising
the increasing burden of costs and
legislative compliance by developing and
implementing sustainable cost-saving
strategies and solutions, together with
their core focus on waste, energy and
water efficiency solutions for the NHS
was compelling. We therefore opted for
Carbon Architecture’s team of skilled
sustainability experts to work with our own
team to help us reduce energy use and
spend across the site. We also instructed
the team to analyse the CHP system’s
potential and present back opportunities in
a quantified form that easily allowed
business cases for further improvement
works to be made.”

SOLUTION:
The joint team started with an analysis
of the Trust’s current setup and then
provided comparatives of where additional
efficiency savings could be made, and how
the system could be optimised further. The
team worked with onsite BMS engineers
to analyse heat loads and target areas for
improvement. They also worked with the
Trust’s operator to improve CHP uptime
and heat utilisation.
The optimisation process looked at
electrical & heat generation efficiencies
and how these utilities were used on site.
This showed where improvements could be
made - not only to the CHP system but the
wider heat use network on site.

SUCCESS:
CO2e emissions have dropped by 17%
and energy spend is down 35%
“We have also installed and improved

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

•

•

•

•

Trust Estates departments are
being squeezed - they have less
money to spend and need to review
cutting costs
Trusts are having to cut their
spend/services. This highlights the
need for cost saving such as analysing
Trust FM, energy, water spend and
finding ways to reduce costs
Energy use is flat – but use of
benchmarking and external advice
reveals tried-and-tested methods and
successful strategies.
Lack of consistency The NHS uses
many different energy management
approaches – in house/ outsourced/
hybrid/interim. Good ideas are often
not reapplied

heating controls to both reduce energy use
and improve patient comfort. This along
with updating our plant room equipment
has helped maximise the savings delivered
by the CHP installation. Other energy
reduction works onsite include making
many improvements to the efficiency of
heating, air handling, lighting, boiler
upgrades, and the addition of variable
speed drives. We have also appraised
the space we rent out to private health
companies to check they were being
run correctly.”
It won’t stop there! The Trust’s on-going
plans are based around improving
monitoring and information systems to
track performance and flag issues as they
occur. The aim is to respond quicker to
issues and identify cost savings easier and
faster. This will allow the Trust to
benchmark internally as well as externally
using ERIC data to leverage lessons learned
and reduce costs. Leading to more
optimisation of current equipment and
processes – a win-win policy with no
capital requirement!
Dan Jackson is a Process and
Sustainability expert at
CarbonArchitecture.co.uk

Lighting

The Benefits of
Daylight Harvesting

W

inter has arrived!
With shorter days
and longer nights, the
limited daylight hours
we do get never seem
enough. Light affects the way we feel, and
the right light levels can improve
wellbeing, productivity and help us to
complete tasks more effectively. At work,
we need high levels of light to stay alert.
The right lighting creates a brighter,
cleaner-feeling workplace and can aid
concentration and accuracy in work.
It is important that a workplace uses
lighting or ‘lux’ levels that are appropriate
to the room being used and the activities
being performed. An office where Technical
Drawings are created will need higher lux
levels than an office canteen, for example.
Different applications can require vastly
different lux levels that are consistent
throughout the day. At the same time,
many workplaces want lighting that is
energy efficient, not only in winter but
year-round.
One way to meet these needs is
through ‘daylight harvesting’. This is
achieved by incorporating light sensors,
also known as photocell sensors, into a
lighting system. A photocell can detect
levels of natural light and adjust the artificial
light level accordingly. This means that
lights can be switched on as natural light
levels drop, and switched off again as
natural light levels increase. More
sophisticated photocell sensors can
dim lights gradually when they detect
increasing levels of natural light. Photocell
sensors provide consistent lighting levels
and only use as much light as necessary
therefore reducing energy usage.
Photocells can be wired or wireless,
integral or plug-and-play. Which one you
use depends on what you want out of the
photocell and the application it is being
used for.

Indoor Commercial
Applications
If you want to light an office using a
system where all lights use one photocell
sensor, you can use a wired photocell.
The photocell sensor acts as a switch and
transfers signals to the lights connected
to it based on daylight levels. You can
programme the photocell to switch lights
on or off or dim them, based on

pre-determined natural light levels.
A wired daylight harvesting system
offers a simple way to make the most of
natural light and makes LED lighting even
more efficient. It is a great solution for
basic indoor applications with energy saving
benefits. However, if you want to
programme lights to accurately reach a
certain lux level and achieve maximum
energy savings day and night, a smart
lighting system with a wireless photocell
sensor is the best option.
Many lighting and electronics
companies are seeing the potential of
wireless daylight harvesting and have
developed their own systems. Electronics
giant LG has developed a wireless daylight
harvesting system that is smart and
user-friendly. Using a smartphone or tablet,
you can programme a single photocell
to wirelessly control a group of lights.
Programming a photocell this way allows
for more user control and accuracy. This
is ideal in applications where a specific
lux level is required, or where you want to
achieve maximum energy savings.
For example, if you want to light a
Reception area with a light level of 300 lux
using LED downlights, you can programme
the photocell to use daylight levels to
determine how much more light the group
of downlights will need to output to achieve
the programmed lux level. Obviously, this
output will vary throughout the day, and
this is the key benefit of daylight harvesting; only the necessary amount of light is
provided at any time, giving you year-round
energy savings. A wireless daylight
harvesting system also offers cheaper and
easier installation, and less restriction in
terms of where you install your photocell.

ideal for outdoor lighting, where robust, low
maintenance units are needed to simply
illuminate outdoor areas automatically.
If, for example, you use wall packs with
integral photocell sensors to light outdoor
commercial and industrial areas, you will
see increased energy savings with minimal
setup and maintenance required. The only
setup needed is the use of controls that
allow you to select the natural light level
that triggers lights to turn on or off.
Another simple daylight harvesting
option is a plug-and-play photocell sensor
that can be attached to a lighting unit, such
as a flood light. As with the integral
photocell sensor, the light will operate from
dusk to dawn with simple setup required,
making it ideal for outdoor lighting.
www.netledlighting.co.uk.

Outdoor Commercial
Applications
Another valuable use of daylight
harvesting, especially in winter, is for
outdoor lighting. As photocell sensors
detect light levels and operate
automatically, there is no need to set
timers or turn lights on manually, which is
reassuring as daylight hours change with
the seasons.
An integral photocell sensor inside a
lighting unit provides an easy way to save
energy. The photocell will automatically
activate a lighting unit at night, ensuring it
is operational from dusk to dawn. This is

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

13

Lighting

Office Lighting Now is the Time for
Retrofitting LEDs

O

ffice lighting technology is
continually improving to
provide efficiency, safety
and comfort benefits. In
addition to the intangible
advantages of a well-lit environment,
there can be solid financial advantages
to replacing old lights with newer
technologies. In particular,
retrofit-capable LED lighting enables
building managers to implement
replacement programmes that can be
funded partly if not entirely from the cost
savings achieved. Saima Shafi, Sales and
Marketing Director, LED Eco Lights

Health and safety
Health and safety compliance is a
frequent trigger for a lighting review. Too
much or too little light causes eye strain

and discomfort. It can be hard to identify
and avoid hazards in areas that are underlit
or have poor light quality. Bad lighting
affects the quality of work and overall
productivity. The flicker often generated by
fluorescent light sources can induce
headaches and migraines and other
symptoms associated with Sick
Building Syndrome.
Too much light brings further issues.
Glare can cause discomfort, annoyance,
irritability or distraction, and can also result
in visual fatigue. Where the local work area
is darker than the surroundings, staff may
be distracted by the contrast.
Some of the technologies used in older
lighting installations have health or safety
issues of their own. In particular,
tungsten-halogen lamps and high-intensity
discharge lamps carry the risk of optical or
ultraviolet radiation, which can be harmful if

too much enters the eye, and affects
unprotected skin.

The maintenance challenge
Sometimes outdated lighting is
replaced on an ad-hoc basis when it has
failed. During maintenance or following
failure, different lamp types or colour
temperatures may be used within the same
area. Indeed, some fittings are left without
a working lamp at all. Workers can find it
difficult or impossible to see properly, and
the inconsistencies contribute to uneven
light patterns across the entire area.
Fluorescent lighting does not respond
well to frequent on / off cycles. When
attaching occupancy sensors in busy areas,
the lighting will degrade quicker than
normal exhibiting the familiar blackened
ends.

Lighting
The benefits of LED lighting
Whilst the price of improving the
lighting regime can be offset against
significant costs to the organisation in
the form of lost working time, increased
absenteeism, reduced staff efficiency and
productivity, these costs can be hard to
measure and quantify. Retrofit LED lighting
provides a much more direct and
measurable return on investment.
Providing more lighting lumens per watt
than most other forms of lighting, the most
obvious benefit of upgrading to LEDs is
the improvement in energy efficiency. This
has an immediate impact on the monthly
electricity spend, with a corresponding
reduction in carbon footprint.
In addition, LEDs provide qualitatively
better lighting. For example, LED
technology provides very directional light
that can be focused where it is needed.
LEDs are flicker-free, combatting the
common problem with fluorescent
lighting. High performance LED lighting
is very consistent, providing a nice even
spread of light, without colour shifting or
contrast imbalances. Good quality LED
lighting is well suited to building automation
and control, as lifetime and performance is
unaffected by frequent turning on and off.
Furthermore, LED lighting for offices
can be produced to a UGR19 (Unified Glare
Rating) or below, which is recommended
for use with VDU screens.
All this makes a very strong case for
moving to LED technology. Fortunately,
this can be achieved without throwing
away the existing infrastructure – and past
investment. LED lamps and luminaires can
be readily retrofitted within the current
lighting hardware.

Reap the rewards –
and save as you go
The result is an immediate
improvement in energy and other costs.
Ballasts and control gear, which can
account for 20% of the energy consumed
by some lighting, are eliminated. Retrofit
LED lamps from reputable manufacturers
come with lengthy guarantees so that faulty
products are covered for free replacement
over 2, 3 and 5 year terms.
In addition, retrofitting is the least
business-disruptive way to upgrade existing
lighting. Work can be scheduled around
downtimes, evenings and weekends, so
that operation can continue as normal.

Savings to meet standards
Most importantly, retrofit LED lighting
systems help the building meet the latest

standards and regulations including those
focused on improving the energy
performance of buildings. Part L (2013) of
the UK Building Regulations came into force
in April 2014, covering lighting performance
for Residential (L1) and Commercial
buildings (L2), typically those using light
sources with a minimum efficacy level of 55
lumens per circuit Watt, with fixed internal
lighting delivering an average of 45 Lm/W
over the whole area. Lamps below 5W
do not need to be included in the count
towards Part L compliance. Further, it is
mandated that lighting controls should be
adopted to avoid unnecessary lighting at
times when either enough natural light is
sufficient or areas are unoccupied.
With today’s LEDs capable of easily
reaching 85-100 Lm/W for most
commercial light sources, and up to 140
Lm/W for more industrial types of fixtures,
moving to this technology already meets a
major requirement of Part L compliance.
Adoption of LEDs also makes it easier for
building managers to fulfil requirements to
incorporate lighting controls. SMART
lighting goes beyond simply fitting PIR
sensors to detect occupancy. Integrated
controls built-into LED luminaires can
detect daylight and dim down the lighting
when not required, or can be
pre-programmed to save energy and
controlled according to user behavioural
patterns. These SMART luminaires can also
be grouped together so that banks of units
can be controlled to the same parameters.
A pre-set level of lighting can be maintained

across the whole area if required. Systems
like the new Goodlight architectural lighting
range of modular LED luminaires can be
attached to intelligent controls that learn
how the areas in an office are used, and
adjust the lighting accordingly.

Quantifying the benefits
Evaluation of Goodlight retrofit LED
lamps and luminaires has demonstrated
energy savings up to 85%. In addition to
this, maintenance savings of up to 100%
can be made. Typical return on investment
calculations show full payback within three
to 36 months. A new compliant installation
can be funded essentially from the
energy savings.
A number of programmes including
the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA)
Scheme offer businesses tangible
incentives such as tax breaks to help fund
their lighting upgrades. Alongside these,
commercial schemes such as BrightPlan
LED Leasing allow new lighting to be leased,
so that the operational savings achieved
from the installation can be used to fund its
cost directly. Capital budgets can be applied
to other projects and tax advantages to the
company realised.
With industry support like this, there
really is no time like the present for
retrofitting LEDs.
www.ledecolights.com

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

15

PUMPS

Waste not want not

A

specialist waste
management company with
over 300 sites in the UK are
committed in their ambition
to transform waste into
reusable energy and high quality
recyclable materials. As part of their
overall environmental strategy, they
recently worked with Grundfos Pumps
to assess the savings potential of
replacing some obsolete spilt-case
pumps with new high efficiency options
at one of their sites.
In order to ascertain the current pump

performance, Grundfos undertook an
energy check and the subsequent detailed
energy check report showed that by
replacing the indicated pumps, a
huge saving of 297,840 kWh per annum
was achievable.
The decision made to replace the old
pumps with Grundfos high-efficiency
variable split-case options has proved to be
a great success with the new pumps
demonstrating their reliability, while
delivering a 70% energy saving and all this
with a return on investment of just 2 years.
To find out more visit www.grundfos.co.uk

Grundfos answered the call

A

major telecommunications
call centre in London
requested Grundfos
undertake an Energy Check
on their cooling and heating
pumps to see if they could improve the
efficiency of their system. This type of
survey is ideal in these circumstances, as
it will quickly assess typical savings that
can be made. One of our specially trained
energy team undertook the check that
assessed all the installed pump
equipment as well as looking at the
current and future demands of that
system.
The subsequent comprehensive Energy

Check report showed that there was a
lack of system control, and recommended
that they replaced their installed base of
obsolete heating and cooling pumps with
models from the Grundfos TPE and NBE
variable speed pump ranges.
The report findings also showed that
savings of 318,000 kWh per year would
be possible with a return on investment of
2.8 years. The recommendations were
accepted and a rolling installation
programme was implemented. The results
to date have already delivered an energy
savings of ÂŁ30k+ and a large reduction in
CO2 emissions. The client is very pleased
with the results.

Hospital given a clean bill of health

W

hen a 700+ bed hospital
in the North West of
the England wanted to
assess the efficiency
of their current pump
set-up, they contacted Grundfos Pumps.
The recommendation was that Grundfos
would undertake
an Energy Check
to establish their
current pump
set-up and look
at the associated
energy usage.
One of the
benefits of
undertaking an

16

exercise like this with a pump specialist
such as Grundfos is that after the check,
a detailed report is produced. This
report demonstrates what kWh, CO2
and financial benefits, can be achieved,
by improving the system efficiency
through upgrading to newer or improved
pump solutions.
This particular Energy Check showed
that if a number of end suction and
in-line pumps were exchanged for
more efficient models, a huge saving of
429,645 kWh per year was indicated.
The outcome of this check saw
Grundfos being asked to replace the
highlighted inefficient pumps with
various NB, MAGNA and TP pump models

Energy Manager Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ December 2016

all of which combined variable speed
drives and high efficiency motors.
This investment will result in an excellent
ROI of just 1.5 years.
Hospitals, by their nature, must
remain operational 24/7 and must be
capable of meeting all the demands that
are made of them. This means having
a reliable, effective and efficient pump
system that will give them the assurance
they need to maintain and deliver their
heating, cooling, water supply and water
boosting requirements and Grundfos
have the knowledge, experience and
product portfolio to deliver and maintain
the best solution.

District Heating

Guardbridge Biomass Scheme Claims
Scottish Green Energy Award

T

he £25 million Biomass Energy
Centre & District Heating
Network for the University of
St Andrews has been
celebrated at one of Scotland’s
most prestigious awards ceremonies,
winning the Sustainable Development
category of the Scottish Green
Energy Awards.
The project saw Vital Energi work in
partnership with the University to realise
the their vision for a campus-wide low
carbon energy system by refurbishing an
Old paper mill building, transforming it into
a state of the art Biomass based energy
centre that will, in future, form the heart
of a planned new technology focused
business park.
The new energy system feeds remote
University Buildings more than 6km away
through a highly thermally efficient 23km
underground district heating network. The
project will bring significant environmental
benefits which will see carbon emissions
reduced by over 6,000 tonnes per year.
Mike Cooke explained, “We have
worked closely with the University on this
project since September 2014 and

experienced first-hand their commitment
to the environment and their enthusiasm to
be involved at every step of the way. We’re
delighted the project has been recognised
at this prestigious event and we would like
to acknowledge the patience and support
of the local residents and project
stakeholders who experienced disruption
while the heat network was formed.”
In addition to the building, mechanical
and engineering works, Vital Energi took
part in the Guardbridge Guarantee,
helping the University to ensure that the
project also delivered tangible benefit to
Scotland and the local community. Vital
Energi worked closely with all stakeholders
including local residents and businesses to
maximise local spending (73%) and local
employment.
433 local people have benefitted
from employment associated with the
implementation and continued operation
of the scheme over the next 5 years, 79%
of those are employed live within Fife and
Central Scotland.
Professor Verity Brown, Vice Principal
(Enterprise & Engagement), said: “To
win such a prestigious award against

competition from across Scotland is an
outstanding achievement. The energy
centre at the Eden Campus at Guardbridge
is a remarkable engineering project which
would not have been possible without our
partners, Vital Energi.
“It is a project that would not have
possible without the forbearance and
support of local people in and around
Guardbridge.”
www.vitalenergi.co.uk

Double Whammy as Cranbrook and Skypark
Power Through at Energy Awards

C

ranbrook and Skypark has
won two major industry
awards for the low carbon
district heating system which
powers the new community
and neighbouring business park.
It was a clean sweep for E.ON and
project partners as the scheme won
‘Overall Project of the Year’ and the ‘Homes
and Communities Project of the Year’
category at the prestigious Association
for Decentralised Energy Awards (ADE
Awards) held in London in November 2016.
The awards showcase innovation, best
practice and achievement across
combined heat and power, district heating
and demand response and energy services.
This year’s ceremony was held at London’s
Natural History Museum.
Shortlisted for the “Homes and
Communities Project of the Year” E.ON
(Cranbrook and Skypark) was up against
British Gas (BGreen, Oldham) and SSE
(Elmsbrook, North West Bicester) and
having won that category the team took
their seats for a few minutes more before
the being called to the stage again to be

awarded “Overall Project of the Year”.
East Devon District Council, supported
by the HCA (Homes and Communities
Agency), facilitated a negotiation between
developers and E.ON for the construction
of an energy centre and heat network in
2010.
At Cranbrook, where there are now
1,500 homes connected to the power plant,
approximately 2,900 homes will be fuelled
through the first phase of residential
development. The system is expected to
provide an estimated 13,000 tonnes of CO2
savings per year, the equivalent of
removing 5,200 cars from the road.

The Science Bit

to our control centre which allows E.ON to
monitor and manage remotely.
There is also a solar thermal project under
way, the first of its kind in the UK. This
innovative project combines a 1,814m2
solar array and a heat pump, capable of
generating up to 2 MWth heat. It is the
largest solar thermal array in the UK and
the first demonstration of using a
combined system of renewables and
non-renewables in a large scale district
heating (DH) system.
For more information visit:
www.eonenergy.com/for-your-business/
community-energy/what-is-communityenergy

The project includes many other
technologies including Solar Thermal, Solar
Photovoltaic, Heat Pump, Thermal Storage
and AMR (Automatic Meter Reading).
To date, the Energy Centre has a carbon
saving of 28%. These carbon savings will
increase as the development grows. The
Energy Centre plant is fitted with a full
management system which is connected

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

17

Boilers & Burners

Condensing boilers blaze new
trails for low NOx emissions

A

s the campaign for cleaner
air focuses attention on
pollution from NOx
emissions, James Porter,
Sales Director at
Remeha, looks at the implications for
commercial boilers
Improving the environmental
performance of our buildings has been a
key driver for energy managers in recent
years, helping reduce energy waste and
greenhouse gas emissions. Built
environment legislation has centred on
cutting carbon dioxide emissions to help
achieve targets set in the UK Climate
Change Act 2008. But now, with air
pollution in most UK cities and towns
exceeding World Health Organisation
guidelines, nitrogen oxides, or NOx, are
under scrutiny.
60 years since the Clean Air Act was
first introduced in the UK, air quality is
once again a hot topic. Poor air quality
exposes the public to serious health risks,
with pollution from NOx emissions linked
to respiratory and pulmonary diseases. The
Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (Defra) claims that NOx
pollution is responsible for the premature
death of 23,500 UK citizens annually. So
there’s strong public support for action. A
YouGov survey of more than 800 people
revealed that 76% want to bring their cities
in line with European limits on air pollution.

New NOx legislation
A number of existing and planned
measures exist to minimise NOx emissions
from vehicles, a key offender of air
pollution. But buildings – and their heating
systems – also typically emit NOx. As
heating is responsible for nearly half a
building’s total energy usage and its
associated emissions, regulating the NOx
emissions would have a positive impact
on air quality.
London Borough Councils and the City
of London already impose maximum NOx
levels from heating in new buildings.
And from September 2018, new NOx
legislation for space heating will come
into effect for the whole of the UK and the
European Union. The Ecodesign of
Energy-related Products Directive will
introduce mandatory NOx requirements
for all space heaters up to and including
400 kW. Maximum NOx emissions of 56
mg/kWh will apply for gas and liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) boilers, with a
maximum of 120 mg/kWh for oil-fired
boilers. This follows on from the tighter
energy efficiency standards that came
into force in September 2015. The aim
is to ensure that only energy-efficient, low
NOx heating products are manufactured,
specified and installed in the UK and
across the EU.

Greener, cleaner heating
So how to achieve low NOx heating?
The first step should be to ensure that only
high efficiency, low NOx heating
equipment is installed in both new and
existing buildings. Low carbon technology is
not necessarily low NOx, so it is important
to make certain that the product meets low
NOx criteria. As a second step, check that
existing heating systems also meet low NOx
emission standards.
The good news for energy managers is
that the solution doesn’t have to be costly
or complicated. In fact, for new and existing
buildings, one heating technology stands
out as being both affordable and practical
– the condensing boiler.

Ahead of the curve
Condensing technology is ahead of
the curve in terms of high efficiencies
and ultra-low NOx emissions. This means
most commercial condensing boilers are
future-proofed for the ErP Ecodesign (iii)
2018 NOx legislation. The latest models are

18

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

designed, constructed and tested to meet
the European boiler standard EN15502 Pt
1 2015 Class 6 – achieving NOx emissions
as low as 35 mg/kWh. They also qualify for
maximum credits for low NOx space
heating from the sustainable building
assessment scheme BREEAM, helping
improve a building’s environmental ratings.
Perhaps most importantly, condensing
boilers are a tried-and-tested technology.
Lighter and more compact in design, they
are built for easy installation and
maintenance, minimising any downtime
or disruption. Recent advances include
ever-more versatile configuration options
that achieve higher efficiencies and greater
flexibility in overcoming plant room space
restrictions or constraints. Widely
acknowledged as a quick win to significant
carbon and energy savings in our older
buildings, they also provide a simple route
to NOx compliance.

The benefits
And the financial and environmental
benefits from energy-efficient, low-NOx
heating are clear. Improving outdoor air
quality with low NOx heating will help
reduce the illnesses and conditions related
to air pollution.
Then there’s the growing connection
between greater comfort in buildings and
the increased wellbeing and productivity
of its occupants. It will come as no surprise
that people in buildings with improved air
quality are more likely to enjoy improved
health and wellbeing. This in turn leads to
higher cognitive ability and sleep quality
and, ultimately, to improved performance
and productivity.
Creating a healthier environment in
hospitals would benefit not just patients
but staff. Improving the air quality in
schools and universities would deliver a
safer, more productive learning
environment for students. Offices would be
more comfortable places to work, leading
to increased staff productivity and reduced
employee sick days.
Modern condensing boilers tick all
legislative boxes, from high efficiencies to
low carbon and ultra-low NOx. Add to
this the relatively low initial outlay, rapid
financial payback and the prospect of
future lower bills, and this really is a
win-win solution.
www.remeha.co.uk
T: 0118 978 3434
E: info@remeha.co.uk

Water Management

Are you ready
for April 2017?

W

ith water deregulation
just around the corner…
is your business ready?
Commencing 1st April
2017, non-domestic
users in England will for the first time be
able to choose their own water supplier.
This change will give businesses the
opportunity to have their water usage
and sewerage billed by a supplier of
their choice.
The deregulation of the water market
will give businesses the ability to:
•
Consolidate billing from one
supplier across multiple sites in
different regions
•
Achieve lower prices due to
more competition
•
Benefit from a wider choice of tariffs
•
Receive greater customer service
•
Have a dedicated account manager
•
AMR Metering, installation and profile
data as part of the contract
•
Online access to water billing data

What’s next for businesses?
Businesses with a multi-site portfolio,
should be consolidating all their accounts
onto one electronic billing invoice with
copies of paper invoices. This will reduce
the administration of processing multiple
invoices. The electronic billing file can
then be imported and validated via
specialist software or your chosen
TPI/broker, to ensure you are only paying
for what you use.
The validation process will be even
more important when the switch from
water tariffs to contracts begins in April
2017. Once in place, a fully cost coded
accounts payable feeder file can then
be supplied to streamline the payment
process.
STC Energy provides a bureau service
to validate utility invoices and also provides
access to all water cost and consumption
data via our online web portal. Scanned
copies of suppliers’ paper invoices are also
available via a simple download. This
enables our customers to view all their
utilities data in one place without having to
log into multiple suppliers’ websites.

Carry out a water audit
Carrying out a water audit on sites with
high water consumption will help to ensure
that any issues are detected early on.
Typical issues found include:
•
Wastewater abatements: Non-return
of water to the sewer
•
Oversized water meters – higher
standing charges
•
Leak detection
•
Incorrect Meter Size Charging
By identifying any issues, potential
savings and refunds can be obtained. Water
audits will also ensure that future charging
structures are both accurate and concise
for the consumer. In addition, accurate
current water costs and consumption will
provide long term savings. This will later
ensure that all accounts are in order
prior to the opening up of the market in
April 2017.
The water audit process begins with
an analysis of all the water invoices and
charges that you currently receive from the
water authority (water, waste water, surface
water, fixed charges and Trade Effluent). At
STC Energy, our water audit service goes
above and beyond just invoice analysis, it
will also follow up with a comprehensive
site survey and report. From this you will be
able to identify where there is potential for
savings and refunds, as well as any priority
areas for investigation.

Water AMR Meters &
Monitoring Consumption
By installing either an AMR meter or
data logger onto your water supplies you
would be able to monitor consumption in
the same way as electricity or gas.
Water meters are sometimes installed
in inaccessible areas, making it difficult to
arrange meter readings without proper
health and safety training. Installing a data
logger or AMR meter allows easy access to
usage data that can be used by the supplier
to avoid estimated billing.
Our profile alerts service will also help
to ensure that water is not wasted. By
setting consumption targets, our software
can produce exception alerts to inform you
of usage outside the usual consumption.

STC’s web portal enables our clients to
analyse their consumption.
Any deviations found will trigger an
email alert to a nominated site contact and/
or it can be viewed on an online map-based
site exception dashboard. These alerts can
also be directed to and monitored by our
dedicated team who will then inform the
client of this change. The report will
automatically highlight which sites are over
target, allowing for fast corrective action.
Profile alerts are very successful in
identifying energy wastage directly and in
suggesting behavioural changes that can
be implemented to reduce consumption.
Profile alerts work for both small and
large multi-sites.

Save money with
behavioural/technical
changes
Many of our case studies for existing
clients have revealed that by implementing
both behavioural and technical changes,
savings can be made. One of the most
common causes of high water consumption
and billing is taps running unnecessarily.
It has been estimated that a running tap
wastes over 6 litres of water per minute.
Leaks may be difficult to spot without
analysing profile data. Our profile alerts can
identify if water is being used during
periods of closure. The data will then
inform you of any potential leaks on your
site. It has been estimated that just one
leaking tap could waste around 5.5k litres
per year.
www.stcenergy.com

wo London-based public
authorities were recognised for
exemplary procurement at the
2016 edition of the European
Procura+ Awards, which were
held in Malmö last month. Transport for
London (TfL) won the ‘Innovation
Procurement of the Year’ category for its
recent project to reduce the whole life
cost associated with lighting the
expansive London Underground network.
The City of London Corporation came
second in the category of ‘Tender
Procedure of the Year’ with a cleaning
contract which included comprehensive
social and environmental requirements.
The City of London was narrowly
beaten by the Dutch Ministry of
Infrastructure and the Environment
(Rijkswaterstaat), who worked to ensure
that they achieved a carbon neutral c
ontract for the widening of the A6
motorway by using a lifecycle costing
approach which included a calculated
“carbon discount” when awarding the
contract. The City of Copenhagen
(Denmark) beat off competition in the
category “Sustainable procurement of
the year” for its procurement of healthy,
sustainable, biodiverse and appetising food.
The city has a broader aim to ensure that
90 percent of all food procured by the municipality should be organic. All of the fruit
and vegetables tendered for in this contract
are certified organic.
The Awards ceremony took place on
30 November in Malmö (Sweden), as part of
the Sustainable City Development
Picture Credit: Bill Watts

conference – an international event
dedicated to looking for ways in which cities
could play their part in the implementation
of the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals. SDG 12 asks us to work towards
responsible consumption and production:
sustainable procurement is one very
practical way of doing this, something
each of the Procura+ Award winners have
demonstrated.

Focus on London
Read on for further details of how
Transport for London and the City of
London Corporation approached their
procurements.

Innovation for sustainability :
Transport for London
With support from the EU funded
Procurement of Lighting Innovation and
Technology in Europe (PRO-LITE) project,
TfL carried out extensive early market
engagement with over 80 manufacturers
and analysed the whole life cost of the
lighting system to better understand where
costs could be saved without impacting
on quality.
The procurement process was carried
out in five main steps: Internal Demand
Analysis to quantify as far as possible
business needs; a State of the Art analysis
to understand what products were already
available on the market; an early market
engagement to communicate TfL’s needs to
potential suppliers and to test the market’s
capability to meet these requirements;

a Requirements Development phase to
develop the technical specifications and
documents required for the product; and
finally, the procurement itself.
The process introduced a procurement
approach which calculated a range of
external costs as well as unit price,
including installation, maintenance, energy
use, carbon and cleaning costs. Indicative
results suggest a 25% saving on whole
life-cycle costs, and significant reductions in
energy consumption.
The luminaries and lamps purchased
through the PRO-LITE project demonstrate
a methodology that can be applied to any
European transport network.

Socially and environmentally
responsible cleaning:
City of London Corporation
When procuring its cleaning services,
the City of London applied green public
procurement (GPP) criteria to ensure high
staff welfare and the use of environmentally
friendly and animal cruelty free products.
The resulting contract used a range
of innovative equipment such as cordless
vacuums, pulse mopping, and microfiber
cloths, to help reduce the need for
detergents and other cleaning products.
The supplier also trialled the use of electric
vehicles for its response teams, to help
reduce transport-associated emissions.
The procurement criteria specified
chemical-free, biological (enzyme-based)
and animal-cruelty-free products to ensure
that any cleaning products used would
have lower negative impacts on human
health and the external environment.
Social outcomes were an important
aspect of this green cleaning contract: zero
hours contracts were forbidden, flexible
family-friendly schedules were requested;
all staff were paid the living wage; and
access to training opportunities was
required.
The value placed on staff welfare and
training has had a very positive impact,
evidenced by a very low turnover rate.
Furthermore, the procurement has
managed to reduce life cycle costs and
negative environmental impacts by using
ecolabelled, polymer-based floor polishes.
For more information on all of the
Procura+ Award winners and finalists,

20

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

Procurement/Finance

How to CONVINCE YOUR
CFO TO INVEST IN energy
management software
Introduction
In today’s business climate, it’s a real
battle to get energy saving projects funded
by senior executives. Budgets are tight and
resources for projects are limited. So if
you want the attention of decision makers,
you’d better have a good story with solid
economics coupled to a solid strategy. In
this article, we bundle know-how gathered
from dozens of energy managers who have
used Honeywell’s EnactoTM energy
intelligence solution to show how an energy
savings plan could benefit their business
and convince their CFO to make the
investment.

Business case
In most cases, energy management
software will be considered just like any
other project. The CFO will always ask for
the following information before making a
decision:
•
How much will it cost to set up the
system and keep it operational?
•
What savings will our company get
from it?
•
What value does energy management
software bring to the company?

The costs
The first question can be answered
relatively easily, based on the Enacto offer.
Since Enacto is mostly offered as a turnkey
solution, it will have a set-up component
for hardware and software and a
software-as-a-service and managed
services component.

Dirk Den Haese – Global Director for
Energy Management Solutions, Honeywell
Home and Building Technologies
The savings from an energy
management software
solution
The hardest part is to quantify savings.
Reduced energy consumption will be a key
part of savings, but additional savings are
driven by efficiencies, for example fewer
people or resources required to control
energy, and smarter purchasing decisions
– lower energy prices -- due to better
forecasting.
To quantify potential energy savings for
Enacto, you need to measure your energy
management maturity level. Levels range
from 1 (innocence) to 5 (best practice). The
lower the maturity level of energy
management in the organization, the higher
potential savings can be.
Honeywell has developed a two-hour
workshop during which your maturity
level will be defined and the financial value
of investing in Enacto will be quantified.
Although every company is different, our
workshops reveal that the potential average
savings for customers using Enacto range
from 0.5% to 9%.

The Net Present Value
Although they are related to each
other, ‘value’ differs from ‘savings’. A CFO
will translate ‘value’ and the positive cash

this project will generate for the company
over a certain number of years. Once you
quantified this array of yearly cash flows,
you should discount to today’s reference.
For example: if inflation is 2%, $100 this
year will be worth only $98 dollar next year.
So roughly spoken, $100 in savings in 2017
is worth about $98 today due to inflation.
The discount factor is equal to the
weighted average cost of capital (WACC):
a number your financial team will know
very well. This number tells you how much
money an investment will cost the company
per year and it is a mixture of cost for
equity and loans.
The number of years (called ‘horizon’)
you need to take the cash flow into
account, relates to how long you expect
to benefit from the savings generated by
the project. Typically, horizon relates to the
technical lifetime of the purchased solution.
Once you know the discounted cash
flow after taxes for the number of years
equal to the technical lifetime, we just add
everything together. Make sure that in
your initial year, you include the initial
investment.
The number you calculate, a net
present value (NPV), is a key measure for
the CFO. It tells him whether the project
increases the financial value of the
company. If the number is positive, it
means the Enacto project will increase the
value of your company, and thus should
make the company more attractive to
investors. Net present value is a key
measure that can summarize your whole
business case for the project.

The payback period
Of course, there is also an easier
version of the NPV, i.e. the ‘payback period’.
The payback period tells the CFO how long
it will take the company to recoup its
investment from the generated savings. In
general, our workshop calculations reveal
that the use of Enacto results in an
expected payback time of two to four years.

22

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

Procurement/finance
The financial and technical
risk
Any CFO will also want to understand
how much risk is involved in using Enacto.
Enacto is a typical ‘pay-as-you-grow’
solution. So, it is easy to pilot first a sample
of the total project and check the energy
saving results.

•

•

Other drivers for energy
management software in
your company
CFOs will consider other factors as well:
•

Legal obligations
Regions and countries link tax
payments, subsidies or refunds to
demonstrated efforts and energy
savings. Energy management solutions
like Enacto fit perfectly in this
framework as they track realized
energy savings, generate benchmark
figures and legal reports automatically,
saving precious time of the energy
manager so he can focus on savings
instead on reporting.

Quality standards
ISO reporting can be time consuming
and cumbersome. With Enacto it’s
easy to generate standard reports, like
ISO 50001 demands.
Corporate social responsibility
Energy management solutions help
boost corporate social responsibility
(CSR) in companies and help simplify
reporting. With Enacto, you can
demonstrate the impact of your
energy consumption on the climate
and community you operate in. Hence,
it gives insights in how an operator,
technician or facility manager acts
to support the CSR targets of its
company.

•

Carbon & emission trading
As carbon emissions are directly linked
to energy consumption, Enacto can
help you to influence, forecast and
report on carbon and emission
trading. It will warn whenever your
company is about to cross the safety
line of maximum emissions and it will
help you to understand how many
tons of carbon dioxide you can trade.
Emex advert_KiWi Power V4 Print Ready.pdf 2 2016-10-20 05:34:33 PM

KiWi Power will deliver
46% of total TA Capacity

The calculation shows a
positive business case, now
what?
At this stage, you understand the
project will create value for your company
and that you qualified for additional
benefits, like mentioned above.
Now the story needs to be presented to
the CFO. Assuming his time is very limited
and you will only get 20 minutes, make
sure your story is easy understandable and
focus on the key message only.
Ideally, prepare two slides. The first
slide describes the executive summary of
the project. It contains a short description
and in large numbers the NPV. Your next
slide will be a more in-depth description of
the project itself.
This CFO may also want the proposal
to be evaluated by his teams. Be prepared
to manage your story and continue to sell
it internally.

Why KiWi Powers Clients will
earn £3.68m in TA this year

KiWi Power

137.51 MW

65.10 MW

35.93 MW

23.45 MW

14.28 MW

4.8 MW
14 MW

2.6 MW

Other suppliers

KiWi Power has been securing Clients revenues since 2009 through our scalable
bespoke technology solutions, flexible contracts, and end to end customer support

Winning contracts in the Capacity Market
Auction is easy, experience in delivering these
contract is where the real value is.
£13.7 million was left unclaimed due to
contracts not technically delivered.
With T-1 just around the corner give us a call to
safeguard your Capacity Market earnings.
Tel: +44 (0)207 183 1030
info@kiwipowered.com

45 Broadwick Street
1st Floor, London W1F 9QW

Procurement/Finance

Councils switching on to the savings
of energy efficient technologies

C

ouncils in the UK
recognise the importance
of the powerful long-term
financial savings and
environmental benefits
that can be achieved by upgrading their
energy infrastructure – savings that can
greatly help to reduce fuel poverty and
improve facilities in local communities.
There is opportunity for public bodies
to take a leadership role by influencing
carbon savings as the public sector is
recognised as a key element in delivering
the UK’s Climate Change Programme.
Although the sector emits a relatively small
proportion of UK emissions, there are
excellent financial savings and significant
reductions in carbon emissions to be
achieved by public bodies through the
implementation of energy efficiency
initiatives and technologies. These savings
will provide a valuable contribution towards
the UK’s wider climate change targets.
There are a number of inspiring examples
below where these savings have been
achieved by the public sector by
undertaking street lighting energy
efficiency projects.
While the benefits of these
technologies are widely identified, there
is also the opportunity for public
organisations to invest in these
technologies using Government funded
finance, as upfront costs required for such
projects can often be a barrier to getting
projects started. One solution that a
number of councils have begun to utilise is
the interest-free government funding
available from Salix Finance, specifically
for public sector organisations that wish to
pursue energy efficiency upgrades.
The savings achieved from the
installation of the energy efficient
technologies outweighs the initial
investment involved, enabling councils to
devote their funds to other services.

24

A good example of a local authority to
have benefitted from taking out a loan with
Salix Finance is Gloucestershire County
Council who have championed energy
efficiency initiatives by undertaking a
three-year project to upgrade 55,000 of
its street lights across its estate. Having
already implemented dimming, the council
were looking for an effective means of
further reducing its carbon emissions from
street lighting, which accounts for around
50% of the council’s total emissions.
Upon researching the upgrade scheme
and implementation options, investment in
LED street lighting with a Central
Management System across the estate was
soon identified as a priority project. The
council have so far received a £1.4m loan
from Salix to install the technology across
Gloucestershire County Council, which
is reducing their carbon footprint and is
estimated to deliver annual savings of over
£282,000. The upgrades are expected to
save the council more than £5.6 million
over the lifetime of the technologies.
Hayley Condie, Programme Manager
at Salix Finance said: “Gloucestershire
County Council have been working with us
since 2009 and were the first council to
undertake a street lighting project using
interest-free funding from Salix Finance, as
well as utilising both Salix’s recycling fund
and loans for their projects. This is
assisting them to deliver upgrades across
their whole estate.”
A second excellent example is
Bournemouth Borough Council, who
recently completed a transformational
street lighting renovation, investing in
£4.2m of Salix Funding to make the
efficiency upgrades. This is expected to
save the council approximately £17m over
the course of the project’s lifetime.
The money has been spent on
upgrading over 16,000 sodium street lights
to energy efficient LED luminaires, replacing
the lamps, control gear, photocells and
reflectors, as well as illuminating signs
and bollards, in order to reduce energy
consumption. The move is expected to
save the council over £871,000 annually,
reducing its street lighting energy bill by
approximately 72%. The loan will be paid
back over a period of four years using the
savings from the project.
Upgrading street lighting is a popular
energy efficiency measure that many local
councils are embracing. Opting for more
energy efficient lanterns such as Light
Emitting Diodes (LED)’s can significantly
reduce energy consumption.

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

Councillor Michael Filer, Cabinet
Portfolio Holder, Cleansing and Waste at
Bournemouth Borough Council said: “Salix
has provided vital funding and expertise
that will lead to a significant saving in street
lighting energy consumption which will
equate to large environmental and
financial savings.”
In Cheshire East, the council is leading
the way in combating energy issues with a
carbon reduction target of 27% by 2016 a target already set to be exceeded by
6% thanks to the council’s collaboration
with Salix.
The council is working with Salix to
implement various street lighting efficiency
projects over a four-year period which
began in 2015. Between June 2015 and
March 2016, the council utilised a £3.3m
Salix loan to replace over 8,700 lanterns
on key traffic routes with low energy LED
equivalents. These upgrades alone are
estimated to produce energy savings of
around £672,900 a year, predicted on
energy savings over the next 25 years,
with an estimated additional £167,900
thought to be saved on operating and
maintenance costs.
Running adjacently to this project, the
council also self-funded the installation
of 2,400 columns in residential areas in
order to replace outdated units that were
all over 40 years old and in real need of an
update. Following the successful first year
investment, the council opted to work with
Salix again in 2016, applying to replace an
additional 23,907 street lighting luminaries
with LED units. This programme will be
delivered across three phases over a
three-year period. The existing lanterns
which range between 50W to 100W are due
to be replaced with LED lanterns consisting
of 19W, 24W and 49W that can also be
dimmed if desired.
Since 2004, Salix has worked together
with over 80 local authorities and awarded
over £61 million to street lighting projects
across England, Scotland and Wales. Salix
can fund smaller town parish councils to
the largest county councils within the UK.
Should a Local Authority wish to do street
lighting, Salix has more than 50 client
case studies and over 300 project
knowledge slides, with supporting
technical information.
Salix funding supports approximately
120 technologies; which for street lighting
includes: luminaire replacements with
LED, luminaire replacements incorporating
electronic ballasts, replacement of control
gear including centralised controls, and
non-illuminated or solar bollards.
www.salixfinance.co.uk

he Department of Business,
Energy and Industry
Strategy’s (BEIS) pledge to
invest £295million in
improving the energy
efficiency of public sector buildings by
2020, and its increase in innovation
spending, demonstrate the government’s
commitment to radically improving the
efficiency of public sector energy
consumption.
This perhaps suggests a time of
change ahead in the way public sector
organisations buy energy too. There’s long
been legislation regulating this area, with
organisations naturally having to conform
to OJEU (Official Journal of the European
Union) compliant processes in their
procurement. As a result public sector
energy frameworks have also been a
popular choice. But with the energy supply
market in constant flux, we’re beginning to
see public sector organisations review their
options, taking a more active approach to
reviewing the market.
We’re seeing more examples of
organisations surveying the different
options available to them and becoming
much more switched on when it comes
to monitoring consumption. Low risk and
competitive prices are still important to
public sector organisations, but it’s not the
only thing governing their energy choices.

Fixed vs. flexible contracts
Let’s look at that traditional buying
choice a little deeper. For very valid reasons
public sector organisations may have opted
for a fixed pricing model. Being billed for
the same amount over the duration of the
contract means having budget certainty,

and any risk-averse organisation that needs
a high level of budget certainty can see the
appeal of not having to worry about spikes
in price until a contract’s end date.
While fixed rate contracts are a popular
and effective way to purchase energy, some
organisations in the sector are exploring
other options such as flexible purchasing
contracts, due to the potential cost savings
these can bring, particularly in periods of
low energy prices as was the case recently.
With an effective flexible purchasing
strategy, energy buyers can take more
control of their energy procurement, given
that a contract of this type enables them
to buy and sell set volumes of energy in
response to market fluctuations.
Immediately after a flexible energy
purchasing contract has been agreed with
a supplier, the buyer can begin to purchase
the future energy their organisation will
consume, even if the supply isn’t due to
start for another 12 months or more.
This method of purchasing allows the buyer
to spread their energy decisions across
months or years, which is why it is popular
with organisations that consider energy
as a strategic decision and therefore
don’t want to commit to a price at one
point in time in case the market changes
significantly.

Framework divergence
Another convention that some public
sector organisations are beginning to move
away from is the use of pre-agreed energy
frameworks offered by public buying
organisations, and instead proactively
choosing their own supplier. While much
of the public sector has long enjoyed the
benefits of frameworks - including their
buying power, their financial and security
assurance, and their pre-agreed terms
- some are now looking for other factors
in their energy choice such as customer
service. To many, selecting the right energy
supplier is about finding a provider who can
deliver ongoing maintenance and
support. The added value that a supplier
gives, such as advanced reporting and

access to experienced market analysts, can
give the customer better control of their
energy costs.

Monitoring energy
consumption
There’s also been a move towards using
automated meter reading (AMR) technology
in the public sector, which has reshaped
its approach to energy management by
enabling it to focus on energy consumption.
This eradicates the need for estimated
billing, as energy consumption is monitored
using a device, meaning that organisations
only have to pay for energy that they’ve
used. It also makes it very easy to
understand how much energy is being
consumed across a complex property
estate. For example, the London Borough
of Merton has 166 sites making it difficult
for energy managers to monitor energy
usage across the whole of the local
authority. Installing AMR devices on each
of their meters enables the organisation to
closely monitor collective energy
consumption thanks to regular access to
meter readings. Anomalies can be easily
addressed too, with AMR identifying
buildings currently not in use, such as
schools during holiday breaks, that may be
consuming more energy than they should
be for example due to heating being left
switched on.

Biting the bullet
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude
once claimed that the public sector is too
risk-averse in nature. But energy buying
is one area where the sector seem to be
becoming more open to choice. Taking the
initiative with much of the energy
procurement process, from finding a
supplier to managing consumption
in-house, is how some public sector
organisations are now looking to reduce
energy costs. But to be truly confident
that they’re making the right decision, the
public sector should still consider looking
for advice from other sources, like
references and accreditations, when
selecting suppliers. Of course, there’s
nothing wrong with continuing to take the
same approach to energy buying and
management, but it’s important that
whatever route an organisation chooses to
go down that they factor in more than just
price and convenience, and find the right
provider for their needs.

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

25

Procurement/Finance

Carbon offsetting -

opportunities for local
authorities to finance energy
efficiency improvements

C

arbon offsetting makes a
significant contribution to
reducing carbon emissions
and meeting nationally
determined targets. It also
offers opportunities for local authorities
to engage with their residents on issues
such as climate change and provides a
mechanism for financing a range of
practical energy efficiency improvements
and renewables that help improve the
local area and residents’ wellbeing.

Jane Richardson Hawkes - Jane is a Senior
Energy Specialist, at the National Energy
Foundation. She specialises in sustainable
energy policy and advises local authorities on
sustainable energy technologies and policies
in the context of land use planning and climate
change strategy.

How does a carbon offset
fund work?
Although the detail of carbon offset
schemes might vary from one local
authority to another, the fundamentals
are the same. Carbon offsetting applies to
major new developments and the starting
point is that new buildings should be built
to high environmental standards.

The local authority specifies a target
for carbon dioxide emissions that is above
the requirement specified in Part L of the
Building Regulations. Where the developer
can’t achieve this on-site, carbon offsetting
enables it to be met off-site. Where this is
the case, Energy Statements are used to
provide the anticipated level of carbon
dioxide (over the target) that each
‘as-designed’ new building will emit during
its first year of use. The developer then
pays a set sum for each tonne over the
target multiplied by the set number of
years determined by the council. In the
case of smaller new developments (where
there’s no requirement to produce Energy
Statements) the developer pays a flat fee
per unit.
The offset fund is then used to finance
energy-saving schemes in the local
authority area and the fund is managed
according to clear principles agreed by
the council.

Carbon offsetting future

Despite the UK Government having
rolled back on its zero-carbon buildings
policies, the Mayor of London has recently
applied a zero-carbon standard to major
new residential developments (i.e. 10 or
more units) in the capital. These homes
need to achieve at least an on-site 35%
reduction in regulated carbon dioxide
emissions beyond Part L of the Building
Regulations. The remaining regulated
carbon dioxide emissions to 100% are to be
offset through a cash in-lieu contribution to
the relevant borough, which is ring-fenced
in order to ensure the delivery of carbon
dioxide savings elsewhere.
For commercial developments, the
policy objective is a 35% reduction in
regulated carbon dioxide emissions beyond
the Building Regulations and, where this
cannot be met on-site, a cash in-lieu
contribution is levied by the appropriate
planning authority.
The Mayor’s Sustainable Design and
Construction provides guidance on the
collection and spending of the fund, with a
preference for retrofitting publicly-owned
property as this provides wider community

26

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

Procurement/finance
benefit. Schools, council offices, public
facilities and social housing are highlighted
as buildings that could be retrofit most
readily. Another option is to establish a
borough-wide revolving energy fund, where
loans are provided to local residents or
businesses wanting to retrofit energy and
water-saving measures.

Carbon offsetting
knowledge and experience
At the National Energy Foundation, we
have worked at the forefront of carbon
offset development for over a decade, most
notably assisting Milton Keynes Council
establish the UK’s first carbon offset Local
Plan policy (D4) in 2008.
As the council’s carbon offset manager
since then, we have kept a watching brief
on national and local offsetting research
and policy development, and have
co-ordinated a range of locally-based
carbon reduction projects. The Milton
Keynes scheme is highlighted as a Best
Practice example in the Mayor of London’s
Sustainable Design and Construction
Supplementary Planning Guidance
document.
So far, its trail-blazing approach has
achieved carbon savings totalling more
than 6,600 tonnes. It has also generated
more than £1 million for targeted
carbon-saving projects that have benefited
local residents and helped address wider
social, economic and health issues such as
fuel poverty.
We have also used our experience to
help Southampton City Council develop its
carbon offset policy, and our work included
a review and analysis of other English local
authority carbon offsetting work.
In addition, we recently completed a
research report commissioned by the
Greater London Authority (GLA): Review of
Carbon Offsetting Approaches in London,
in which we undertook a London-wide
assessment of the carbon offset
approaches taken by the capital’s 35 local
planning authorities, and an examination
of their progress.

work for the GLA, we have developed a
detailed and broad understanding of all
the issues around the establishment and
operation of carbon offset schemes, and
can provide:
•
Advice and support in setting up a
fund and sourcing funding.
•
Support in initiating ideas,
programmes and schemes to reduce
carbon emissions.
•
Managing and delivering a fund
through local carbon-saving initiatives.
•
Managing a scheme’s finances and
ensuring compliance with the fund’s
terms and conditions.
•
Verification of any resulting carbon
savings.
•
Reporting to the council/Carbon Offset
Board on a regular basis.

As a result, we’re
well-placed to offer our
top tips for setting up and
running a carbon offset
scheme:
1.

2.

3.

Carbon price. Don’t be too ambitious
on carbon price. A modest fund can
pay for more measures than no fund.
Project management. Don’t be
afraid to pay for decent project
management. It’s a very important
skill but one that’s often undervalued,
until things go wrong! This is another
area where we’ve had a great deal of
experience and can help.
Benefits. Ensure that any benefits are
widely spread. Make sure that they’re
not just available to those who can

4.

5.

6.

7.
8.
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•

afford to pay but also to those who
are most in need or require help to
access them.
Funding. Take advantage of LEEF
and/or Salix funding to piggy back on
good projects.
Additionality. This is also important.
Don’t fund what would have happened
anyway.
Realistic. Don’t be too optimistic.
Take into account real energy-saving
lifetimes and real-world savings.
Transparency. Be transparent.
Keep all your stakeholders on board.
Measures. Concentrate on proven
carbon saving measures such as:
Boiler cashback or scrappage
schemes.
LED light bulb swaps.
Retrofitting local authority housing
stocks.
Energy efficiency improvements to
publicly-owned buildings – for
example: libraries, town halls, schools
and community centres.
Subsidised wall and loft insulation.
Landlord subsidies for energy
efficiency measures.
Improvements to communal
heating systems.
Project work on decentralised
energy systems.
Small energy efficiency measures and
advice on how to use energy better for
the elderly and those in fuel poverty.

Further information about the work on the
National Energy Foundation is available on
its website: www.nef.org.uk

Broad knowledge and
expertise enhances service
provision
Providing carbon offset services is
enhanced by also having knowledge and
expertise in related areas such as: building
energy performance; energy modelling;
carbon reporting, footprinting and
verification; community renewables; and
energy efficiency management.
This is where the National Energy
Foundation can help. As a result of our
long-standing experience and our recent

Energy Manager Magazine • December 2016

27

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